Kellogg Company has a rich tradition of caring deeply about its consumers, customers and the world we live in. This legacy of sustainability goes back more than 100 years ago when W.K. Kellogg began using recycled materials for the first cereal boxes.

Building on the company’s heritage, Kellogg announced today new social and environmental commitments that will enrich the lives of consumers and farmers while doing what’s best for the environment.

“This company was founded on the belief that there’s an inherent goodness in grains and that continues to hold true today,” said John Bryant, Kellogg Company chairman of the board and chief executive officer. “We are committed to nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive. Our new sustainability goals will help us do this by delivering the highest-quality grains in a responsible way that enriches the lives of consumers and agricultural growers around the world.”

Kellogg is announcing new global sustainability commitments in two areas – responsible sourcing and natural resources.

Responsible Sourcing

Kellogg Company will:

Responsibly source its top 10 ingredients and materials by 2020, and validate compliance across all direct suppliers by 2015.

Continue to provide resources and education to key agricultural suppliers, millers and farmers to help them increase their resilience to climate change; optimise their use of fertiliser inputs; reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their agricultural practices; optimise water use and enhance watershed quality; and improve soil health.

Build programs to help women farmers and workers and small-scale producers improve their livelihoods by adapting to climate change and improving their agronomic practices and business skills.

Identify areas within Kellogg’s supply chain with a high prevalence of women farmers and workers and develop programs to provide resources and education that improve the livelihoods of these women, their families and their communities.

Around the world, Kellogg works with its growers, suppliers and partners to improve their livelihoods and reduce the company’s overall impact on the environment. This includes helping wheat farmers in the United Kingdom improve soil health, supporting a women’s cooperative of more than 600 farm families in Bolivia, and promoting new rice growing methods in Thailand that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Rebecca Boustead, Director, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Kellogg Australia said, “We have been working closely with Australian farmers, seed breeders and millers since 1928, when Kellogg commenced its operation in Australia. We continue this journey in development and sourcing of grain varieties, which will enable us to innovate great tasting, nutritious food that meets the needs of our consumers.”

Conserving Natural Resources

Kellogg Company will:

Further reduce energy and GHG emissions by an additional 15 percent (per metric tonne of food produced) from 2015 performance.

Expand use of low-carbon energy in plants by 50 percent by 2020.

Support watershed quality, implement water reuse projects in 25 percent of plants by 2020, and further reduce water use by an additional 15 percent (per metric tonne of food produced) from 2015 performance.

Increase number of plants sending zero waste to landfill by 2016.

Ensure that 100 percent of timber-based packaging continues to be either recycled or from certified sustainable sources, while implementing resource-efficient packaging, as measured by improved performance for recycled content, recyclability and food-to-package ratios.

“Kellogg is committed to minimising its environmental footprint and developing more sustainable manufacturing solutions. In Australia, one achievement we’re proud of is the reduction of waste to landfill from our manufacturing plants by more than 29 percent between 2012 and 2013,” said Rebecca Boustead.

“Meanwhile, over 800,000 Kellogg wrappers and cereal box liners were recovered in 2013 through the REDcycle Program, of which Kellogg is a founding member. Kellogg Australia will continue looking for improvements that will help to deliver on our new global goals.”

REDcycle aims to recycle flexible plastics that cannot be put out for collection through council kerbside recycling schemes, and provides consumers with an easy option to recycle plastic waste such as cereal bags.

Additional information about these commitments can be found online at www.KelloggCorporateResponsibility.com. Details of the company’s progress against the new commitments will be included in Kellogg Company’s future Corporate Responsibility Reports.

Since 1924, Kellogg ANZ has been driven to enrich and delight consumers through foods and brands that matter. Kellogg is the world’s leading cereal company and our brands – Kellogg’s®, Be Natural®, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®, Rice Bubbles®, Nutri-Grain®, Special K®, All-Bran®, Sultana Bran®, Coco Pops®, Pringles® and more – are welcomed into homes, nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive. Through our Breakfasts for Better Days® initiative, we’re providing 12 million servings of cereal and snacks in Australia and one billion servings of cereal and snacks globally – more than half of which are breakfasts – to children and families in need around the world by the end of 2016. To learn more about our corporate responsibility initiatives and our work to support local communities across Australia and New Zealand, visit www.kelloggs.com.au or www.kellogg.co.nz and follow us on Twitter @Kelloggs_AU